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Fanshawe College students have the option of walking away from a now-condensed fall semester with a full tuition refund in the aftermath of a five-week-long faculty strike.

Students at Fanshawe and 23 other colleges in the province will have two weeks from the resumption of classes on Tuesday to decide whether or not they want to continue with the semester, Advanced Education Minister Deb Matthews said Monday.

The province’s colleges will be expected to foot the bill for the refund, she said.

“I didn’t think it was right that colleges would actually financially benefit from the strike,” Matthews said. “I think it’s appropriate to actually return that money to students.”

About 12,000 college faculty were back on the job Monday after the strike was ended during the weekend with back-to-work legislation.

A small group of about 11 Fanshawe faculty members returned to school together Monday morning for meetings and last-minute lesson planning before students return to class Tuesday.

“I’m glad that I won’t be standing out in the cold all day, that’s for sure,” said Kathleen Dindoff, a psychology professor.

“I don’t know how we’re going to get things ready to deliver tomorrow in just this one day . . . but I’m very glad to be back with the students. Hopefully the arbitrator will have more flexibility than the College Employer Council.”

The government also announced full-time and international students affected by the strike are eligible for up to $500 for unexpected costs, such as child care fees, rebooked train or bus tickets or rent. The province expects students will be able to apply to their college for financial assistance starting this week.

Apprenticeship students can also apply for a full refund if they can’t complete their in-school training because of the strike.

“I have heard from students about hardships they have experienced as a result of this strike. It is clear that they have borne the brunt of this situation,” Matthews said in a statement.

“That’s why we are taking these measures to ensure students have the support they need to complete their studies.”

The $500 reimbursement cap is not enough support for strike-weary students, the New Democrats said Monday.

“Students were forced to put their lives on hold for five weeks,” NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said in a statement.

“Students have paid the price for the premier’s inaction — they paid academically, emotionally and financially. $500 will simply not be enough for many students to recover.”

The NDP are also calling on colleges to extend more mental health and academic supports to students dealing with strike-related anxiety and depression now that they’re facing a condensed semester.

The funding announcement comes one day after Bill 178, the legislation to push the striking faculty back to work, passed its third and final reading. The New Democrats forced a rare weekend sitting of the legislature by refusing to fast-track the legislation — a plan pushed for by the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives to end the strike that started Oct. 16.

Under the back-to-work legislation, all outstanding issues between the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) and College Employer Council will be referred to binding mediation-arbitration — a process that could take months, union bargaining team member Darryl Bedford said.

“It’s not ideal, we would have preferred a negotiated settlement. But we’re back,” he said, adding both sides have five days to mutually select an arbitrator.

“We now have to go to binding arbitration and make our case. Bargaining continues, it’s just a very different phase. . . . Hearings are to start, I think, within 30 days. It’s a long road from here still.”

Fanshawe has extended its fall semester until Jan. 16. Classes will run until Dec. 22 and start again Jan. 3. The winter term will begin on Jan. 22 and finish April 27.

The London-based college employs 540 full-time and about 300 partial-load instructors and has satellite campuses in Simcoe, Woodstock and St. Thomas. Sarnia’s Lambton College and St. Clair College’s Windsor and Chatham campuses were also shuttered by the strike.

The five-week job action that cast some half-million students out of class lasted longer than any other faculty strike in the five-decade history of Ontario’s public college system.